BEWARE OF DECEPTION - LDS Hymn Parody #104

So here's another LDS Hymn Parody - #104.  Since it's very self-explanatory, I won't go into a long dissertion on what I have concluded are the lies and deception at the very core and foundation of Mormonism.  Suffice it to say that my opinion about the Mormon Church being a fraudulent religious organization has only become stronger as the years have gone on since I first began my independent research over 10 years ago.  But then if you've read this blog, that opinion is very obvious.

BEWARE OF DECEPTION
Sung to the tune of Today, While the Sun Shines ‑ #229

1.  Beware of deception, think for yourself,
Don’t shove all your issues up there on a shelf.
Beware what they tell you, don’t go along
With what they’re saying, totally wrong.

(Chorus)
Beware, beware, think for yourself,
Beware, beware, the crumbling shelf.
Beware, beware, you should not delay,
Don’t think Mormonism is just what they say.

2.  Beware when they tell you to just believe
Since if you look closely, it’s clear they deceive.
The history sordid, doctrines untrue,
But many Mormons don’t have a clue.

(Chorus)
Beware, beware, think for yourself,
Beware, beware, the crumbling shelf.
Beware, beware, you should not delay,
Don’t think Mormonism is just what they say.

3.  Beware of apostates, Mormons exclaim,
They label us Anti, say we are to blame
For whatever caused us to go astray,
Closing their minds in utter dismay.

(Chorus)
Beware, beware, do some research,
Beware, beware of the Mormon Church.
Beware, beware, you should not delay,
It’s clear Mormonism is not what they say.

4.  Beware of religion that’s filled with lies
Because for the truth there is no compromise.
Examine it closely, and evidence
Will show the facts for there’s no defense.

(Chorus)
Beware, beware, not Word of God,
Beware, beware, for it’s just a fraud.
Beware, beware of the Mormon Way,
It’s clear Mormonism is not what they say.

© Diane Tingen, 11/25/2013

I KNOW THAT IT'S FILLED WITH DECEPTION - LDS Hymn Parody #76

Here's another LDS Hymn Parody... #76.  Writing a parody of "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" has been on my "to do" list for quite a while now.  Naturally, since I was born and raised Mormon, I remember singing it innumerable times over the years.  In fact, I even remember singing it during general conference in the Conference Center when it was still fairly new.  Of course, it has been sung at most general conferences since it was published in 1863 - and has been sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir many, many times (and is included on several of their albums, including an album entitled "Praise to the Man," which includes many hymns honoring "the Prophet" Joseph Smith). 
  
Since I no longer believe that the Mormon Church is led by a living Prophet (just as I don't believe that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God or "the Prophet of the Restoration" as Mormons refer to him), it gave me great satisfaction to write this new version.  As this hymn parody says, I KNOW THAT IT'S FILLED WITH DECEPTION, and I'm so thankful for that knowledge.  When I was questioning and as the conflicts I felt inside began to diminish, I began to feel a peace, joy and tranquility that permeated my life and finally made me happy.  After years of struggling, trying to "just believe" and accept it all with faith, I finally came to the conclusion that I was living in denial - that I was clinging to religion that was built on a stack of lies that made no sense.  It was such a relief to finally reach that point.  And so I bid Mormonism adieu - and I have never regretted that decision.  As the last line of this hymn parody says, "I could not continue to follow religion that works to deceive."

I KNOW THAT IT’S FILLED WITH DECEPTION

Sung to the tune of We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet - #19

I know that it’s filled with deception,
So clear from the research I’ve done.
Examining all of the doctrine,
I know that of truth there is none.
In going through its sordid history,
The facts that they try to disguise,
I fully reject Mormonism
Because it is nothing but lies.

I know Joseph Smith was a shyster,
Who made up an enormous fraud
By claiming that he was a Prophet,
And saying that he had seen God.
By researching, it is apparent
That none of what he said was true,
And what others say in the present
Are lies they continue to spew.

I'm thankful that I know the truth now,
Tranquility fills me inside.
Resolved are the conflicts that plagued me,
A joyousness I cannot hide.
And though I am labelled apostate
By Mormons who blindly believe,
I could not continue to follow
Religion that works to deceive.

© Diane Tingen, 11/30/12

WHEN I WAS QUESTIONING - LDS Hymn Parody #74

Looking back on the days when I was questioning whether what the Mormon Church teaches is true, I remember many moments when my gut feelings were that it is not.  But I continued to struggle with my conflicted feelings, wondering if I was misunderstanding the history and doctrine.  After all, I had been conditioned my entire life to just go along.  So in essence, my feelings of possible inadequacy were placed inside my psyche by Mormonism over the years.  They wanted me to think that it was all me.  They wanted me to think that I simply didn't have enough faith or wasn't "righteous enough" to fully comprehend the meaning behind it all.  Of course, that's how the Mormon Church traps people.  They work hard to make people think that if they try harder, pray more, read their scriptures more, attend church more, etc., etc., ad nauseum, then they will understand it all and it will all make sense.

But alas, that didn't work for me.  I continued to feel conflicted until I began to research it independently, and after a while, I realized that it is actually a fraud.  It wasn't me or my lack of faith that created the questioning inside me - it was the sordid history, doctrine and tenets of the Mormon Church.  The Mormons choose to believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God in spite of the facts and evidence against that assertion.  They choose to believe that Joseph Smith "restored the everlasting gospel to the earth" although the facts and evidence demonstrate otherwise.  To me, when the facts and evidence are against something that a person continues to insist is true, they are not demonstrating faith, but rather denial.  And as far as I'm concerned, TBMs  (true believing Mormons) are steeped in denial, big time.

Realizing that I had been lied to my entire life was a very painful revelation, but it is one for which I am very grateful - and I am very thankful that I will not be spending the rest of my entire life devoted to a religion that is obviously false.

My latest LDS hymn parody is set to the music for "Where Can I Turn for Peace?"  This used to be one of my favorite LDS hymns.  As I wrote this hymn parody, I kept thinking about the inner peace I found when I turned away from Mormonism.  No longer am I questioning.  My conflicted feelings have been replaced with a firm belief that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up - and others have spent many years perpetuating his lies for their own purposes.  I just wish TBMs would look at their religion with open minds, researching and examining its history and doctrine on their own, independent from the choke-hold that the Mormon Church imposes on its members.  Then, just maybe, they would come to the same conclusion as I did.

So here is my 74th Hymn Parody...

WHEN I WAS QUESTIONING
Sung to the tune of Where Can I Turn for Peace? #129

When I was questioning, looking for answers
To all the queries racing through my mind.
When with a wounded heart, seeing the errors,
I finally recognized, no truth I’d find.

The Mormon Church is filled with such deception,
When I examined it, I saw the lies.
Through sordid history to its false doctrine,
It is so clear to me, there’s no disguise.

I know that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet,
He simply made it up, that was his scheme.
He was a charlatan, there was no limit
To what he’d say or do, shyster supreme.

Why did I just believe in Mormonism
When it’s so obvious that it is a fraud?
Opened my mind and then, there was a schism,
I knew without a doubt, not Word of God.

© Diane Tingen, 11/20/2012